Method of producing artists&#39; charcoal



Feb. 5,11935. c. s. sALTER l 1,990,134'

' METHOD oF PRQDUCING ARTISTS CHARCOAL i Filed Nov. 20, 1931 Patented Feb. 5, 1935 l n UNITED ySTATES PATENT oFFlcE,

METHOD or PRoDUoiNG AlvlrstrsoHARooAL Carl S. saltenrownwood, ,'1ex., assignor of` on'efourth to Douglas Coalson, Brownwood, Tex.v

Application `November 20, 1931', Serial No. 576,33()v I s claims. (o1. 20a-'51 This invention relates'to'new and A,useful im- Figure 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view provements in methods of` producing artists taken'on the line 2--2 of Figure-1, l charcoal. f Figure 3 is Aan enlarged transverse vertical sec One object of' the invention is toprovide an tional viewof one of the potswith'sticks stacked improved method for producing stick charcoal therein, and I 'f .i

such as is usually produced from 'natural wood 'Figures 4', 5a'nd 6 are isometricalviews show-` and is used by artists, sign paintersrand other ing different forms of trays for supportingthe artisans. sticks; .f

A particular object of the invention is yto pro- Inl carrying out the invention I provide suitable..

1o vide a method whereby a betterquality of stick sticks from vwillow or other wood suitable for the lo charcoal may be produced in an expeditious purpose. While it'is possiblein my method to manner and at a low cost. use split' sticks andsticksV obtained' by peeling f A further object of the invention is to provide the bark from limbs, stems, vines, et cetera, I i

a method whereby the charcoal may be produced prefer to provide the sticks by' cutting or sawing in sticks of predetermined size and shape, and blocks of the proper wood intosticks of the del5 the warping, splitting and shattering substantial- .sired shape andv length. Sticks cut' or sawed in ly eliminated; and also whereby a much higher thisv manner may be square, round, triangular; percentage of perfect sticks is recovered and loss hexagonal, or otherwise shaped in cross-section'. and Waste is reduced to a minimum. Suchk sticksv may have the proper-dimensions as to Another object of the invention is to provide length and thickness or Width.` 20

a method of producing stick charcoal whereby lThe condition'of the wood'willsomewhat con'- the degree of rmness or hardness of the nished trolthe rcarrying out of the method. My method l stick may be efectually calculated',Y and thenpermits of the use ofwood in any condition either ished product produced in accordance" withVV said dry or green. The charcoal' sticks may be" more calculations so as to-possess the desired degree or quickly produced from dry Wood,` and therefore 25 l grade of iirmness and hardness anticipated v the Wood' may be partly seasoned, or could be Substantially 'all ofthe stick charcoal used by kiln dried; but can be used green. artists and artisans Vandvfnow on the market is One ofthe featuresof the method consists in either made from powdered charcoal compressed coniining each stick in a duct,`channel or chamber.'

+ into stick form, or from split Wood or wood-from while said stick is being treatedto convert 'it' into 30jl which the bark has been peeled. The compressed charcoal.y By this arrangement, ithas been foundY stick form has nothing in common `with this inthat the stick is constrained `against warping,

vention, andftherefore will not `be discussed. distorting and splitting both during the charring The sticky charcoal now in common use is all and the cooling steps. The means for conning" l produced from small limbs, stems, vines, or'split the sticks is, of course, capable of considerable 35:1'

sticks.` It is obvious that there' can be no* univariation. k formity-ofcontour or general shape from suchV In the drawing the numeral 10 designates a4 stock. With this in'viewa step whereby the sticks tray or pan which 'is provided with a plurality ofv are cut or sawed to a uniformshape and length parallel'ducts 11; In Figures 3 and'l'these'ducts 10' will be appreciated. Further, the present'nishedare shown asv-shaped' in cross-section, whilex40" sticks are more or less warped, curved" and split. in Figurel 5 the ducts are squa're'in4 crosslsection,y When` produced by my'method-the sticmare not' and in Figure 6 Ythey are arcuate" in cross-seconly ofv uniform length but aresubstantially free` tion'. 'Ihe particularshape of the` ducts and' the fromlateral distortions' and curvature, and are consequent general formation of' the tray is sub? I 45. therefore nearly all straight, which makes them ject to considerable variation, but it is obvious "i5l more easily handledy and more readily packed, as that sticks which are angular in' crossssection well as beingzless liable to breakage. Y are best suited for usev with the traysshown in The invention will bel more readily understood Figures 4 and 5, while the tray of Figure 6 is from` a reading of the following'speciiication and bestadapted to round sticks. by reference tothe accompanying drawing in Sticks A are placed in the ducts 11 voi? `thef50 which means for carrying out Ythe method' are ilrst tray and then a second tray `11 is rested upon'V lustrated andwherein:`l f the first tray with its valleys upon the ridgesof Figure lis a View, partly in sectionand partly the underlying tray. A number of traysV Yare inielevatiomof a kiln containing: pots for carry-V stacked'in this manner and then thetraysvlled 5 ing outl the: method, withr sticks, are placed in a-pot 12', which is prowill also provideadequate air spaces on all four Of course, other shapes of` pots could be used and means for holding the` sides of the trays,

trays in place provided. The sticks and trays may be stacked either outside of the pot and then placed in the pot or they may bef stacked inside of the pot. Each pot is substantially free from air openings except the vent 14. v

A number of pots are assembled in aV kiln 15 upon a grate 16. Below thel grate vis disposed a gas burner 17 so as todirect itsflame against the bottoms of the pots. It is here pointed out 20 that any number of pots may be assembled in any suitable kiln and heated in any adequate man ner. A suitable lid 18 is placed upon the top of the kiln and provided with a vent pipe 19. The

pipe has a collar '19j resting on the lid sothe 25.v lower end of the pipe may fit in an opening` 18 in said lid and saidpipe may be removed when desired. y I

It is of course, important that the sticks be charredby the heat and not burnedby ignition.

;=It is therefore important that the proper steps be followed and instrumentalities suitable for the purpose be used. I have secured very good rev sults by using pots made of :heavy sheetmetal' and have found that if the wallslof the pots are 'too thick or too thin, the results obtained are not as satisfactory as where a metal pot made rof about 12vgauge metal is used. However, I'do not wish to be limited either to this gauge or to a-metal pot, as any container whichwill properly char l 4.0kthe wood without ignting it may be used.

When the pots are placed inthe kiln they should be gradually heated, and thereforea low flame is at first used. If the wood is green a longer tiinevwill `be required in the pre-heating than where dry wood is used because the green wood will contain more moisture. When the pots'have been warmed up the flame is graduallyv turned up until thek maximum heating point is reached. This period of bringing the heating flame upto fits maximum point may vary and usuallyfifteen to twenty minutes has been found ample.` `When the Wood` begins to char it will smoke and this smoke escaping through' the vent hole 14 will pass out through the vent pipe 19. v VThe'charring period will vary according to the condition of the wood and the temperature generated in 'the kiln.' I have produced charcoal sticks in from forty-fiv'efminutes to two hours, but this timeis subject to variation. A temper- 60`-ature of from 375 to575 Fahrenheit has been found-to be satisfactory, but conditions may arise where other temperatures would be used.

'While the wood is being charred in the pots it is. of course, carbonizing and this producessmoke.

65"When substantially` all of the moisture is driven out of the sticks the smoking will cease and at this point the intense heat will drive oil' the gases from the wood. The control or regulation of the flame from the burner 17 during the gassing pe- 70riodhas much to do with the degree of flrmne'ss orhardness of the finished stick. VIf theflame is maintained atits maximum during theentire gassing` period very soft sticks will Abe produced, but `ifit is out down or extinguished during-the 75.`:-.gassing-period various degreesof .hardness will be acquired, dependent upon the length of time the flame is burned and its regulation.

It is necessary to discharge the gas from the `pots before the carbonization is complete and when the gas begins to flow the operatorwill be notified by the noise made when the gas discharges from the vents 14, and he may remove the pipe 19, insert a lighted taper through the opening 18 and ignite the gas jetsflowing from the vents14. When the jets or amescease to burn it is evidence that substantially all of the gas has been extracted. 0f course it is not necessary to ignite thisfgas as it would be driven off anyway, but the igniting is a convenient way of ascertaining Vwhen the gas has all been driven foff.' The gassing period usually consumes from five to ten minutes, butythis is subject to Variation. vThe burner 17 is either extinguished during the gassingperiod or at the end thereof, according to the grade of stick desired.

The successof the method'v depends to a great extent upon the cooling of the charred sticks because the contraction or shrinkage of the sticksv takes place during the .cooling step and also the distortion of the sticks occurs during this period.` If the cooling is too sudden, the sticks will crack or split and frequently distintegrate.

substantially defeated.

After the gassingA periodthe pots are allowed to remain in the kiln and the lid r18 is .usuallyv retained in place. The climatic conditions have somewhat to do with the cooling step. Where the lid 18 is not removed'usually one hour, more or less, is consumed before .the pots are removed from the kiln; but if the lid is removed then less time elapses before the pots are removed. When Y the pots have cooled sufficiently to be handled" time for opening the pots and removing the sticks" is when the temperature of the air outside ofthe pots andthe temperature of the sticks are substantially the same. In other words a ,normal temperature would be the temperature of' the air surrounding the pots and 'when the sticks have cooled to this normal temperature they could be safely removed and handled. By confining 'the sticks during the cooling period they'are permitted to shrink because of the open ended ducts, but are prevented from curling or distorting lat- By confining the sticks in the ducts, their distortion'is* erally; but such confining of thestlcks would not protect them 'from the disastrousy results which would occur if they were subjected to Ycold air orthe pots opened too soon.

It is difficult to set forth invariable rules vof `data for carrying out a method of this naturebecause much will dependupon the condition of the wood at the -start of the methodgthe surrounding climatic conditions, the'degree of heat available and used, and the grade ordegree of hardness or firmness required. Dry sticks may be more readily carbonizedthan greensticks and hard or semi-hard charcoal sticks Vmay be more readily obtained if thewood is drywhen'stacked in the pots. VOne skilled ntheart of producing charcoal sticks will, of course, be able to regulate the length of the various steps and will bei able to successfully. carry out `the method. The p'reheating, of course, will depend upon the condition of the Wood, as Well as the intensity of the heat While the Wood is smoking. The point at which the burner 17 is extinguished during the gassing period Will depend, of course, not only upon the grade of stick desired but upon the judgment of the operator. It is Very essential that the sticks be conned and that suiiicient air space be provided around the trays. i

It is pointed out that the devices herein set forth are used for the purpose of explaining the method and the method does not depend upon these particular devices. While better results are had and it is more desirable to heat the pots in a kiln, it Would be possible to apply heat to the potswith-v outplacing them in a kiln. It is essentialy to the method, however, that the sticks be confined in some suitable manner to prevent lateral distor` tion and curling. It is, of coursenecessary to the method thatthe charred sticks be protected from blasts of cold air, as Well as from cooling too quickly. While unquestionably better charcoal sticks are produced by cutting or sawing the sticks to uniform lengths, sizes and shapes, this is not absolutely necessary, because natural wood sticks when confined and charred in the pots as herein described produce better charcoal sticks than those now in common use.

Having illustrated and describeda preferred form of the invention, what I claim, is: f

1. The method of producing artists stick charcoal of predetermined size and shape Without resort to appreciable compression, which consists, in confining slender sticks of fwoodin restricted ducts corresponding generally in size and shape to the sticks of Wood in a closed container having a vent opening, heating .said container to char said sticks, charring said sticks in said ccntainer, and then gradually cooling the charred sticks before removing them from said container".

2. The method of producing artists stick charcoal of predetermined size and shape Without resort to appreciable compression, which consists, in conning small and slender sticks'of Wood horizontally and against lateral distortion, charring the sticks While so confined by applying heat thereto, whereby the moisture `and gas are driven off, and then gradually cooling the sticks While the same are confined.

3. The method of producing artists stickv charcoal of pencil-like form which consists in restraining lateral distortion of elongated sticks of Wood of small cross-sectional dimension by confining individual sticks in separate open-ended u ducts in a closed container having avent opening, heating said container to a temperature suicient to char said sticks, then gradually cooling the charred sticks and removing said sticks from the container.

4. The method of producing artists straight charcoal sticks of pencil-like form which consists in confining a plurality of sticks of wood in individual compartments in a container, the side Walls of each compartment engaging .the side surfaces of the stick confined therein to prevent lateral distortion of said stick, heating said sticks to a charring temperature, and gradually cooling said sticks before removing them from said container.

5. The method of producingartists stick charcoal of pencil-like form Which consists in depositing a plurality of elongated sticks of Wood each in an individual duct Within a closed container from which gases may be vented, heating said-container to a temperature suicient to 'char the sticks in said ducts, the heated gases Within said container having access to said ducts during the entire heating step to facilitate the charring of l the sticks, and then gradually cooling said sticks before removing them from saidcontainer. 6. The method of producing artists `stick charcoal of pencil-like form which consists in depositing elongated sticks of Wood in individual ducts -l in a closed container having a vent therein, said l sticks engaging only the side surfaces of said ducts to prevent lateral distortion only of the sticks, heating said container to a temperature sufficient to char said sticks, and then gradually cooling the sticks before removing them from said container.

CARL S. SALTER. 

